Tuesday, January 5, 2010

I’m assuming this is what everyone but me felt like last year when they listened to Drake’s “So Far Gone”. By no means will this get the buzz the Drake tape got, at least not now. The two tapes are similar, they’re both hipstery, rapping/singing, genre-hopping, “emo-raps”. The difference I guess is that Coolroy seems to come off as a more backpacker, underground version of Drake. There’s no “Best I Ever Had” potential, no superstar guests, like Lil’ Wayne, but I can definitely see a buzz building from this tape. As the title and by Coolroy’s own suggestion, the mixtape is something to chill out to. You can definitely tell this guy is from the West Coast. If I had to describe it, It’s probably what Shwayze (remember that guy “Buzzin” ,“Corona & Lime”, that Malibu rapper who never combed his hair & hung around Cisco Alder on that awful reality show on MTV like 2 years ago) was going for, but failed horribly.Anyway, For the most part the mixtape, production-wise is full of laid back 90’s esque beats and samples, with a few detours, which actually seem to be common these days thanks to Drake & Kid Cudi. “E.T. L” is the now pre-requisite rapper making a electro-pop autotune song, but as far as those go, I’ve heard worse. “Burn” is the “at one time considered pushing the envolope cover of an alternative rock song”, this time by Pink Floyd. Which has been done by Lupe, Cudi, Drake, even Kanye covered Tears for Fears on 808’s. “Red Pumps” and “Never Over” are the attempts to liven the tape up, but really just ruin things. The only change in pace that really works is “My Girl”, it’s sounds like what Shwayze’s first cd could’ve spawned if he had talent. If there was a “Best I Ever Had” on the tape, this would be it. Other than that, the other of the 17 songs are consistent good lyrics and a show of Coolroy’s impressive everyday man storytelling ability. What guy can’t relate to “30 Seconds”…c’mon. Then, songs like “The Feeling” and “The Adventures of Charlie Tuna” really hit home. I really enjoyed this mixtape. Yeah, he pretty much took what already existed and repackaged it to his own image, but the end product really is more than the sum of its parts.